Chapter 2

"Oh no..."

A man clad in green is having a wonderful day. There was a special occasion in Toad Town today: Princess Peach's Birthday! He had told his older brother, Mario, to go on ahead without him. He didn't have a gift for the princess, but he and Mario had agreed to guard the party and keep a look out for trouble instead. The party would be held in Peach's castle, but he and his brother decided to meet at the town.

Luigi had been strolling through Blubble lake heading towards Toad Town. As peaceful and happy the lake was, it was ironically infested with monsters. He had encountered a handful of Crawfuls, Fawfloppers, Mawful moles, and Beehoss... and won.

It wasn't much of a challenge to him anymore. He and his brother had encountered much powerful enemies before. He had even fought a crazy witch, a mad scientist, alien queens, an ancient evil, the king of nightmares; there were just too many to count off all the powerful forces he and his brother defeated.

He had just finished off an annoying Mawful Mole that thought it would be fun to throw rocks at him. There, the mole lay unconscious with a big swollen eye. 'I think playing Whack-a-mole on the guy was too harsh... But he deserved it anyway', Luigi thought to himself as he dismissed the little mammal off.

He was only halfway towards Toad Town when the loud blast occurred.

The shockwave made Luigi lose his footing and fall. It wasn't very destructive compared to most big explosions, but it was strong enough to knock anyone off their feet within a mile radius.

The monsters that were roaming around within reach of the shockwave were spooked. They weren't very used to explosions, but they can handle a blast. What seemed to bother them was something the oblivious plumber can't sense... dark power.

Luigi saw a cloud of dust beginning to set on a disturbed side of the forest just south from the lake. 'It must have came from there', he thought. He rights himself up and makes his way towards Dimble wood.

There was a crater as big as a medium-sized hut just before the forest clearing. Craters weren't much; they were just big holes on the ground. This crater was no different. The plumber would have only dismissed it and resume his journey to Toad Town had he not spotted the thing sitting in the middle of the crater.

He froze and was hit by a wave of fear. "N-no... I-it can't b-be..." He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had slept very late last night after Bowser decided to kidnap Peach in the middle of the night. Maybe it was just nausea...That thing couldn't ever possibly still be here. He decides to get a closer look.

He slides down the steep slope towards the middle. His knees feel like jelly as he comes closer to the unholy thing. He can't help but glance a look behind him. Now he was being insecure... 'Stay focused, Luigi... There's nothing behind you.' He scolds himself.

Unfortunately, his eyes weren't deceiving him. Much to his terror, it was indeed the accursed sentient relic that once threatened to plunge the world into darkness.

'Of all things that could've been down here, it just had to be THIS! Couldn't it have been just a meteor or even just a koopa or something? Groan*... Just like what Mario said: don't complain at what happens and just move forward. Everything has a reason to happen', Luigiscolded himself.

He just wanted to ignore the damned thing and move on like it was never there. Luigi reasoned to himself. 'But there was no time to be a wimp. Someone needs to do something... and I'm the only one available so... do something!'

He built up his courage, and began to inch towards the unmoving Dark Star.

He was now a foot away from the thing. It looked similar to what it had looked like when they first fought it; a dark purple orb adorned with a black star in the middle. It lacked it's glowing, red eyes and ray-like spikes. It has yet to awaken...

But Luigi will not be taking any chances. He can't just wait until the Dark Star will finally wake and start wreaking havoc all over again. He had to get rid of it ASAP.

He proceeded to equip his hammer; a heavy, metal mallet too big for his size. With some difficulty, he lifted the hammer above his head. Luigi brought the hammer down with all his might.

He let out a huff before looking at his handiwork. He looked rather surprised. He had expected to at least do some damage while it still slept. Not even a scratch was made!

'It must have gotten stronger this time', he thought... This is going to be hard...

...

Luigi only stopped his assault on the sleeping entity when his hammer finally gave out and broke. He had attempted to stomp or jump on it, but it only had the same outcome. A naughty side of him suggested that he could just call for help and ask Mario to dump it in Bowser's castle... But then that would just give Bowser an opportunity to harness the dark relic's power.

He didn't know what to do.

As if the world finally decided to cooperate, Mario showed up through the clearing.

"Luigi what are you doing? Everyone is waiting for you!" Mario had a questioning look on his face. Luigi was so focused in getting rid of the Dark Star that he had forgotten about the party. But it just seemed that wasn't too important anymore thanks to the dark relic.

"Oh! Sorry, Mario. But I think we may have... a little problem..."

"Huh? Wait... Is that-?" Mario looked shocked upon seeing the orb... But the scene was different from when Luigi first came here to investigate. "Mama Mia..."

"Mario?" Luigi had his back turned on the Dark Star which began to emit a dark smoke around itself. A low hum can be heard if you listen closely. Two glowing red eyes flashed to life .It's eight tendrils began to lengthen and shape the Dark Star's form.

Mario could only point a shaky finger at the being before him. The oblivious plumber turned back. He began to pale an alarming white that can rival King Boo's ghastly pale complexion. The brothers were too late...

The Dark Star is awake.